BRUINS NOTEBOOK; B’s are hoping to wing it’ tonight

The Detroit Red Wings, the defending Stanley Cup champions, come to Boston tonight for their only meeting against the Bruins this season.

“This is a good test for us,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien. “You’re going to be facing the best, the Stanley Cup champions, and obviously we have to be up to the task. We’ll see where we stand afterwards.”

The Wings lead the Central Division with 32 points, and they’re second in the Western Conference, five points behind Pacific Division leader San Jose.

“Every year they’re one of the top teams in the league,” said Bruins forward Milan Lucic. “This will be a big test for us to see where we’re at.”

With Friday’s 7-2 win over the Islanders, the B’s lead the Northeast Division with 34 points and are tied with the Rangers for the Eastern Conference lead.

Following Detroit, the B’s then will play their next three games against Florida teams, Thursday at Tampa Bay and next Saturday at Florida. They’ll return home on Dec. 8 for a Monday night game against the Lightning.

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The Bruins bounced back Friday after losing, 3-2, in Buffalo on Wednesday. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak and it was the B’s first regulation loss in 10 games. The Bruins had been 9-0-1 in November until that game.

“We wanted to bounce back,” said Julien. “I like the attitude of our players after that game. They didn’t enjoy losing, and that’s always a good sign. We took the appropriate measures to play a solid game today.”

Ryder breaks out:

Michael Ryder, who entered Friday’s game with just three goals, scored two of the Bruins’ seven against the Islanders.

“One of his strengths is scoring goals,” said Julien. “For numerous weeks now, he’s had some great chances. It’s not from lack of effort, it’s not from lack of trying. I thought he was snake-bitten for awhile, but at the same time he was playing other parts of the game very well.

“He was being physical. He was strong along the boards. He was good defensively. You can jump on a guy for one dimension of his game, but you have to recognize the other good things he’s been doing.”

Sturm on the mend:

Marco Sturm has missed the last five games because of an upper body injury but Julien doesn’t expect the left wing to be sidelined too much longer.

“I think he’s doing better and we’re hoping to have him on the ice in the next few days,” said Julien. “Hopefully, that will transpire.”

Lashoff sent down:

The Bruins sent defenseman Matt Lashoff to Providence on Thursday, but Julien insisted it was because he wasn’t pleased with his work.

“Right now our D is healthy and they’re playing a couple of home games,” said Julien. “We just want to keep our guys fresh. I don’t think we need to read too much into that stuff.

“We’re keeping our young guys playing; we don’t want them to go stale. There’s a good chance you’re going to see him up here again.”

Lashoff was recalled from Providence on Nov. 19 but didn’t dress for any of his three games with the team.

Praising Kobasew:

Chuck Kobasew broke his leg in the season-opening game and didn’t return until 13 games later, but in 10 games with the club he has three goals and eight assists.

“Going on that line with (Stephane) Yelle and (Shawn) Thornton, it was all about working hard at first,” said Julien. “I find the guys find their game quicker when they rely on their work ethic and then the rest comes.

“We then moved him up. What can you say about guys like (David) Krejci and (Blake) Wheeler? He stepped into a duo that’s been going well and contributed offensively as well.”

Kobasew scored the Bruins’ first goal on Friday, extending his point str4ak to five games.

“Every game you can rely on Chuckie to give 100 percent and that’s something coaches like to see,” said Julien. “It’s nice to see him get rewarded too with some timely goals or points or being part of something that helps us win hockey games.”

Odds and ends: Seven Bruins players – Ryder, Blake Wheeler, Matt Hunwick, Marc Savard, Phil Kessel, Dennis Wideman and David Krejci – had multi-point games. … Kessell extended his career-best point streak to eight games; Hunwick stands at a career-best six games. … Manny Fernandez has won five straight games in goal and is 6-0-1 in his last seven games. … The Bruins have won eight straight at home, their longest home winning streak since Nov. 2-29, 2002. … Wheeler and Krejci scored within 10 seconds in the third period, the fastest two goals by the Bruins since Mike Knuble scored twice in 10 seconds on Feb. 14, 2003, in Florida. … The Bruins allowed a power-play goal for the first time in five games, ending a streak of 16 straight penalty kills. They’ve killed 45 of their last 48 penalties. … Lucic played in his 100th NHL game.

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